Review – Thor : Ragnarok

The third of the Thor solo movies, sees a notable shift in the positioning of the character and style, with enjoyable results.

Chris Hemsworth’s Thor is back in his 5th outing, this time directed by Taika Waititi. The film finds Thor, following on from the Avengers : Age of Ultron and sees him taking on the mysterious Hela, and setting out on a journey that reunites him with Mark Ruffalo’s Incredible Hulk.

The thing is though, that actually the plot of the film is one of the lesser interesting things with this film – and thats not necessarily a criticism. What is interesting in this film is the very clear attempts to re-position both the character and the style of the Thor films.

Let’s start with the director – Taika Waititi. This is not someone who has previous experience in either big budget movies, or action, or to be honest, even mainstream cinema. However – he is very good at what he does. His films of What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for Wilderpeople were two films that I greatly enjoyed as independent style quirky comedies that really worked well.

So it’s unsurprising then that Waititi really shifts the style of the film. It is humorous, witty, and is easily the best of the Thor films. Thor himself is repositioned slightly in a more comedic way, but it is actually the surrounding characters that bring a different tone. This is most true of Goldblum’s GrandMaster, and the KGI character Korg (voiced by Waititi).

Added to that, is one of the best villains to have featured in the MCU with Cate Blanchett, the increasing presence of Idris Elba’s Heimdall, and Tessa Johnson as Valkyrie – all making big contributions to the film. I do have to point out though, that I think Tom Hiddleston’s turn as Loki – the mischievous brother is due a rest.

What started life as a near Shakesperean tone in the first Thor, and lost it’s way with the pointless follow up (Review – Thor : The Dark World) really does find a new lease of life with this. It owes a lot to Waititi and I suspect, the success that Guardians of the Galaxy has found.

It’s the best of Thor’s work and breathes new life into what had seemed doomed after the 2nd standalone film.

7/10 (Point of note – I scored the original a 7/10 a well. This is better, but not quite an 8/10)

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